Igor Shesterkin was terrific again, Patrick Kane potted his first playoff goal as a Ranger and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the second consecutive game, too, at the Prudential Center. Kaapo Kakko added a goal with 6:55 left in the game.
The Rangers lead the best-of-seven series, two games to none, with Game 3 set for Saturday at Madison Square Garden. According to NHL.com, teams that take a 2-0 lead in such series are 342-54 all-time, an .864 winning percentage.
Here are the takeaways
-The Rangers’ power play, which was ranked seventh in the NHL this season and had a success rate of 24.1 percent (the fifth-highest in team history), was again huge. They went 2-for-7 in the game and are now 4-for-10 with a man advantage in the series.
-The Rangers went on a three-goal splurge in the second period, which started, oddly enough, after the Devils delivered several big checks that galvanized their fans. But with 14:07 left in the second, Adam Fox fed Tarasenko and he got free in the middle, above the circles. He fired a shot on net and it went in for his second goal of the series. It tied the score at 2. With 10:03 left and the Rangers on a power play, Kane took a long wrist shot from the middle and Kreider tipped it in for a 2-1 Ranger lead.
After the Rangers killed a penalty, they got another power-play chance when Timo Meier was called for holding Mike Zibanejad. With 4:41 left in the period, Kane passed to Kreider, who was lurking in the same spot he scored from in Game 1 – just off Vitek Vanecek’s left side. Kreider swatted at the puck and it glanced off Vanecek and went in for Kreider’s fourth goal of the series.
-According to the Rangers’ Stats and Info Twitter account, only eight players had four or more power-play goals in the whole 2022 NHL playoffs. Kreider reached that number in the second period of Game 2 of this series.
-At the 6:34 mark of the third period, Kane got his first playoff goal as a Ranger, an unassisted tally that boosted their lead to 4-1. The goal was the 53rd of Kane’s playoff career, tying him with Jeremy Roenick for fourth-most among U.S.-born players. Only Joe Pavelski (64), Joe Mullen (60) and Mike Modano (58) had more. The account also tweeted that Fox is the sixth defenseman in NHL history with six points through his first two games of a playoff year. The Rangers were 15-0 during the season when Fox had multiple points in a game and are 2-0 in the playoffs so far.
-The Rangers were 33-0-0 in the regular season when scoring at least four goals – the only team in the NHL to have that perfect record. They are now 2-0 in the playoffs when getting at least four goals, too.
-The Devils grabbed their first lead of the series at the 11:44 mark of the first period with a power-play goal. One of the major themes of Game 1 was how the Rangers held New Jersey without a shot in four fruitless power-play attempts. But Erik Haula banged in a rebound Thursday off a shot by Michael McLeod to put the Devs ahead, 1-0.
-The first period was feisty, with several scrums. The period even ended on one near the Devils net with the Rangers on a power-play. After all the mayhem, Fox was whistled for roughing, meaning the teams skated 4-on-4 to start the second period and then the Devils had a brief power play.
-A physical game got rough in the third period. McLeod fought Braden Schneider and there were several misconduct penalties handed out. At one point, there was an announcement in the press box saying, “There are too many penalties to announce.” Stay tuned: this kind of thing could crop up again in Game 3.
-The Devils shook up their lineup a little bit, moving Meier to a line with Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer. Among their scratches: Defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, who played 16:06 in Game 1, but failed to clear a puck on the Rangers’ first goal, and center Jesper Boqvist, who totaled 10:19 in the opener.
What’s Next
The Rangers and Devils head to Madison Square Garden for Game 3, which will take place Saturday. Puck is scheduled to drop at 8 p.m.
